People with mental health conditions
There is a complex relationship between illicit drug use and mental health conditions. However, it is difficult to determine to what extent drug use causes mental health problems, and to what degree mental health problems give rise to drug use (Loxley et al. 2004).
In 2019, the NDSHS showed that the proportion of self-reported mental health conditions was higher among people aged 18 and over who reported the use of illicit drugs in the previous 12 months (26%) than those who had not used an illicit drug over this period (15.2%) (AIHW 2020b). For example, mental conditions were reported by:
- 31% of people who recently used meth/amphetamine (compared with 16.6% of non-users)
- 27% of people who recently used cannabis (compared with 15.4% of non-users)
- 22% of people who recently used ecstasy (compared with 16.7% of non-users)
- 22% of people who recently used cocaine (compared with 16.6% of non-users) (AIHW 2020b).
The EDRS reported an increase in self-reported mental health conditions between 2014 and 2019 (from 28% to 57%) (Peacock et al. 2019a). See Physical health of people with mental illness.
People identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual
People who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex can be at an increased risk of licit and illicit drug use. These risks can be increased by a number of issues such as stigma and discrimination, familial issues, fear of discrimination and fear of identification (Department of Health 2017). There is limited data available on substance use by people identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer. The NDSHS provides substance use estimates by sexual identity for people identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual, however it does not include estimates for people identifying as transgender or intersex (NDSHS 2020b).
The NDSHS has consistently shown that the proportion of people reporting illicit drug use has been higher among people who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual than among heterosexual people—40% compared with 15.4% had used an illicit drug in the previous 12 months in 2019. After adjusting for differences in age, in comparison to heterosexual people, gay, lesbian or bisexual people were:
- 9.0 times as likely to use inhalants in the previous 12 months
- 3.9 times as likely to have used meth/amphetamines in the previous 12 months
- 2.6 times as likely to have used ecstasy in the previous 12 months (NDSHS 2020b).
The types of illicit drugs people had used in the last 12 months varied quite considerably by a person’s sexual orientation and it is important to note that there are differences in substance use between people who identified as gay or lesbian and people who identified as bisexual (NDSHS 2020b).
For more information on illicit drug use, see:
Visit Illicit use of drugs for more on this topic.
References
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2017. Non-medical use of pharmaceuticals: trends, harms and treatment 2006–07 to 2015–16. Drug treatment series no. 30. Cat. no. HSE 195. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019a. Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in Australia report. Web report. Cat no. PHE 221. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019b. Australian Burden of Disease Study 2015: interactive data on risk factor burden. Web report. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2020a. Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2018–19. Web report. Cat. no. HSE 243. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2020b. National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019. Drug statistics series no. 32. Cat. no. PHE 270. Canberra: AIHW.
Bricknell S 2019. Homicide in Australia 2015–16: National Homicide Monitoring Program report. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Degenhardt L, Whiteford HA, Ferrari AJ, Baxter AJ, Charlson FJ et al. 2013. Global burden of disease attributable to illicit drug use and dependence: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet 382(9904):1564–74.
Loxley W, Toumbourou J, Stockwell TR, Haines B, Scott K, Godfrey C et al. 2004. The prevention of substance use, risk and harm in Australia: a review of the evidence. Canberra: The National Drug Research Institute and the Centre for Adolescent Health.
Department of Health 2017. National Drug Strategy 2017–2026. Canberra: Department of Health. Viewed 13 October 2019.
Peacock A, Karlsson A, Uporova J, Gibbs D, Swanton R, Kelly G et al. 2019a. Australian drug trends 2019: key findings from the National Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System interviews. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), UNSW Sydney.
Peacock A, Uporova J, Karlsson A, Gibbs D, Swanton R, Kelly G, et al. 2019b. Australian drug trends 2019: key findings from the National Illicit Drug Reporting System interviews. Sydney: NDARC, UNSW Sydney.